{"id":1358,"date":"2022-10-02T22:28:52","date_gmt":"2022-10-02T20:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.starhopper.eu\/?page_id=1358"},"modified":"2024-11-10T14:12:09","modified_gmt":"2024-11-10T14:12:09","slug":"equipment","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/starhopper.eu\/?page_id=1358","title":{"rendered":"Equipment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Current Telescopes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

CA300<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The acronym CA300 stands for carbon astrograph 300mm. It is a homemade Newton telescope dedicated for astrophotography.
Initially it was built to operate with my full-frame SBIG-STL11k and a 3″ Wynne Corrector. On an old Vixen Atlux mount, it was a mobile scope. Finally the scope has been retired and after some years it came back with the purchase of a Skywacher EQ8 mount in my backyard. Now it resides in a remote observatory<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CA300 with ASI183<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Name<\/td>CA300<\/td><\/tr>
Typ<\/td>Newton<\/td><\/tr>
Aperture<\/td>300mm<\/td><\/tr>
Diagonal Mirror<\/td>120mm (40%)<\/td><\/tr>
Focal lenght<\/td>1200mm (F\/4)<\/td><\/tr>
Mirror<\/td>Orion UK Ultra Grade
Strehl = 0.993<\/td><\/tr>
Corrector<\/td>ASA 3KORRW 3″ Wynne Corrector 0.95x,
Lacerta GPU<\/td><\/tr>
OAZ<\/td>JMI 3″<\/td><\/tr>
Focuser<\/td>DIY ASCOM Focuser Pro v1<\/td><\/tr>
Tube<\/td>Carbon sandwich, homemade. Mount without tube rings<\/td><\/tr>
Thermal control<\/td>8 Point diagonal heater 2W, 3 Fans 50mm<\/td><\/tr>
Weight<\/td>17,5kg<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Backyard Astrophotography Software-Hardware Chart<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Software- and Hardware Stack <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

BA200<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It is an extremly fast Newton telescope, optimized for photographic use. BA200 is a acronym for „Boren-Simon Astrograph 200mm“, because it has the same optical system design as the famos commercial 8″ Boren-Simon Newton. The primary goal was to built a scope for narrowband imaging. My dream was to finish an object per night. The telescope is normally used with my Moravian G2-8300 CCD camera. First light was in June 2012 shooting M13.
After initial difficulties this scope has been a great success. At this point I have decided to let it imaging unattended in my garden. During the night, temperature drift was not a problem, but filter change required refocusing and I had to get up from bed. A motorfocus and autofocus stands on my wishlist. I tried Robert Browns myFocuserPro<\/a> and this was the begin of a great DIY success story. Today, all of my three photographic newton telescopes have this motorfocus. Robert Browns design and software works stable and reliable and it is very well documentated.
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BA200 with STL (does not work)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Primary Mirror<\/td>GSO 200mm f\/4<\/td><\/tr>
Secondary Mirror<\/td>Orion UK 75mm diagonal<\/td><\/tr>
Focuser<\/td>Feather Touch FTF2008BCR<\/td><\/tr>
Reducer<\/td>ASA 2″Korr 0,73x<\/td><\/tr>
Messured focal length with corrector<\/td>618mm (f\/2.9)<\/td><\/tr>
Carbon Sandwich Tube<\/td>Klaus Helmerichs
Faserverbundbauteile <\/td><\/tr>
Motorfocus<\/td>Robert Brown: myFocuserPro v1<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Misc.<\/td>Integrated secondary mirror heater
low profile vixen style rail, no tube rings<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Takahashi Epsilon 160<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The new Takahashi Epsilon 160-ED<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Optical Design<\/td>Hyperbolic Newtonian<\/td><\/tr>
Aperture<\/td>160mm<\/td><\/tr>
Diagonal Mirror<\/td>63mm<\/td><\/tr>
Focal length<\/td>530mm<\/td><\/tr>
Focal ratio<\/td>1:3.3<\/td><\/tr>
Corrector<\/td>2 Lens, one ED<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With a f\/3.3 scope focus is always critical, therefore a motor focus is necessary. As with all my telescopes I use Robert Browns DIY focuser, here in version myFocuserPro II.
Takahashi sells tube rings seperately, so I decided to design and print my own with a my 3D printer. This was quite challenging, because my Prusa i3 MK3S+ has a print zone of 25x21cm. I used Prusament PETG Galaxy Black filament, a very nice color. Printed with five contours and 0.2mm layer height and a adaptive cubic infill. A small 6x2cm pocket at the bottom houses a aluminium profile with two M6 threads. The printer stops at a certain layer so I could hide this profile. Slightly painted with a glue stick it will overprinted well. This aluminum profile makes a good mechanical connection to my 3″ Losmandy style rail.
Other 3D-printed things are the motor brackets and the electronic housing which provides power connectors, motorfocus board and space for a small USB3.0 hub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The original Takahashi focuser does not bear my ASI6200, it was replaced with a MoonLite CRL 2.5″ and a Moonlite High Resolution Stepper Motor. There is a special Moonlite Flage available that perfectly fits the Takahashi E160. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n